Blackburn Drama Club’s production on Charlotte Keatley’s play tat centres around women.

Charlotte Keatley’s play was written specifically for four women as she felt there were so few plays available compared to centuries worth of plays for men at the time. It tells the story of a generation of women told throughout the years from the threat of war to disharmony and trust within a family.

Director Elizabeth Holland has undertaken the task of projecting Keatley’s very wordy play from a script to the centre stage and in doing so has increased the magnitude of the story. Credit must also go to Holland for the set design which was minimalistic, but effective bring the backstage to the forefront allowing set and costume changes, roles taken on by the cast, to be quick and adding a very contemporary and innovative approach to the story. A suggestion almost that the cluttered array of their belongings on stage was a reflection on the disorder of their lives in the story.

As mentioned before, the script from Charlotte Keatley is heavily laden with dialogue, but underneath tells a beautiful, yet emotionally charged story of a relationship between mothers and daughters over a generation.

Holland was fortunate to be graced with an ensemble of real talent to drive the story and to promote the feelings between the four women. Jenny Hodkinson as Doris, Louisa Harkness as Rosie, Heather Radler as Jackie and Sarah Nolan as Margaret all excelled in not only their individual performances, but in their collective ones too proving an array of talent from each actor. A combination of different levels of capability were the highlights of the performance with the actors seamlessly flitting between different ages of characters with ease and grace offering occasional moments of humour played out over a hugely emotive narrative.

The performances alone absorbed the attention of the watching audience bringing a beautiful story to life in a truly hypnotic rendition which will guide you through varying emotions brought on by a display of truly captivating acting talent.

The show continues on Thursday 21st March through to Saturday 23rd March at 7:30pm. For more information or to book tickets please visit the Blackburn Empire Theatre website at blackburnempire.com